Mech changes
Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2016 2:52 pm
Since we're all busy blowing up Coop's mechs right now , it might be the right time to think about mech combat and possible changes to it in general.
As far as I can see, only Alpha sector actually sees any (semi-)regular use at all, mainly because you need to a) manage to rack up MP to gain access and then b) keep those mechs with MP standing around gathering dust so that you don't lose the MP and thus access when they (inevitably) go the way of all mechs. Which is a shame, really, since that makes about half the theoretically available chassis completely useless and demotes all but ablative 4 armor to "next to useless" (since you'll end up with much fewer hp or simply can't field a mech with "good" armor).
So maybe it would be better if access to the two "advanced" sectors was tied to your mech commander level instead of (temporary) MP? That way, you wouldn't lose access again and you wouldn't have to deal with likely several mech slots being "blocked" by mechs with MP. It would also mean you could finally USE all the available mech parts - and we wouldn't look at one overrun and two empty sectors every time there's a mech battle event...
Apart from that, is there really any point in using any weapon but KIN? The other kinds may have a higher damage potential, but they are noticeably less reliable (and appear to actually be much less effective once all is said and done).
Maybe things should be changed here, too. Instead of two types of armor, there could be four with identical stats, but with each being "resistant" to a specific weapon type (and only to this one type!), thus making it much more useful to equip your mechs with different weapons. After all, you would no longer be able to predict that it's almost certainly going to be "Predator + Ablative 4 + KIN" - the opposing mech could have e.g. EM armor and KIN weapons, making a mech with TH weapons and KIN armor much more effective against it than one with EM weapons and TH armor. But you couldn't tell, so you'd almost HAVE to create different mech setups (and still hope for the best)...
As far as I can see, only Alpha sector actually sees any (semi-)regular use at all, mainly because you need to a) manage to rack up MP to gain access and then b) keep those mechs with MP standing around gathering dust so that you don't lose the MP and thus access when they (inevitably) go the way of all mechs. Which is a shame, really, since that makes about half the theoretically available chassis completely useless and demotes all but ablative 4 armor to "next to useless" (since you'll end up with much fewer hp or simply can't field a mech with "good" armor).
So maybe it would be better if access to the two "advanced" sectors was tied to your mech commander level instead of (temporary) MP? That way, you wouldn't lose access again and you wouldn't have to deal with likely several mech slots being "blocked" by mechs with MP. It would also mean you could finally USE all the available mech parts - and we wouldn't look at one overrun and two empty sectors every time there's a mech battle event...
Apart from that, is there really any point in using any weapon but KIN? The other kinds may have a higher damage potential, but they are noticeably less reliable (and appear to actually be much less effective once all is said and done).
Maybe things should be changed here, too. Instead of two types of armor, there could be four with identical stats, but with each being "resistant" to a specific weapon type (and only to this one type!), thus making it much more useful to equip your mechs with different weapons. After all, you would no longer be able to predict that it's almost certainly going to be "Predator + Ablative 4 + KIN" - the opposing mech could have e.g. EM armor and KIN weapons, making a mech with TH weapons and KIN armor much more effective against it than one with EM weapons and TH armor. But you couldn't tell, so you'd almost HAVE to create different mech setups (and still hope for the best)...